27.8.03

blog blog blog

Spent the bulk of the working on two things:

1. The new HF track SOLAR (now jokingly called SOLARIS in my computer). Took a long time to get into this track because I wasn't familiar with a lot of the tracks (mostly Summer Douche's 200 guitar tracks) and I needed to sit and listen to Ash's loops which are REALLY cool. I would say I spent a good 8 hours on this one. My initial version was over 8 minutes long, but as of this moment it's just under 6. I'm going to sleep on it and then decide if any more changes are needed. Then we'll commit it to mp3 and pass it out to the Factor Corp for further development. This song cries for the vocals of Peter Face.

2. Chemlab art and other business things pertaining to OXIDIZER, it's follow up, and a new F.J./Jared collaboration that I hope becomes the project I do after HF2. I have been quiet about Chemlab as of late, mostly because it's now just a matter of waiting for the record to come out. There is a lot of activity behind the scenes. I'll learn more perhaps when I'm in Chicago this weekend for Bradley J. Fox's wedding (S.O. and I are stopping at Crack Central to see the "family" on Friday night)

I am obsessed with the MTV show NEWLYWEDS. That Jessica Simpson is a nightmare.

I just turned 31 years old as I wrote this. Blog Blog Blog.

F

24.8.03

The Icelanders are In the House

We ventured to Brooklyn last night to check out the Sigur Ros/Bjork show. First off, I am a dead sucker for anything in Coney Island as I spent a lot of good times there as a kid. Of course we had to get us some Nathan's Hot Dogs. I hadn't been to the Coney since I beat the poo out of John Darryl Sparks on the beach during the recording of ALTAMONT, so that's quite a ways back. For the record, I'm not a violent man, but Sparky provoked said beating and Former Aggression Vocalist Turned Important Screenwriter cheered me on approvingly (and HE later smacked around John Darryl Sparks for worse than I ever did. Again, provoked)

So we got to the baseball field just in time to watch Sugar Rolls. I don't think it's any secret that I am not the biggest fan of this band, but I am loyal to Iceland so I decided to give it my full attention. Over the years, there have been several cases in which a band I didn't like on record totally won me over live. Fortunately, I am happy to say that this was the case with Super Ross. I totally understood after the first song why people liked them. First off, their musicianship is stunning. The arrangements are bizarre and the approach to performance is unique. Anything goes with these guys, and they have an amazing string quartet to that adds tons of emotions to the songs. And that's just what this band is, pure emotion. The singer is a beast who is able to bring these songs over the top. The songs build and build, oftentimes to a beautiful climax. Anyway, really good stuff. I was very very impressed and happy to be proven wrong.

For some reason, I have never been able to connect with Bjork. I have always appreciated her and her work, but I never went out of my way to get her albums, nor have I ever seen her live (I think I saw the Sugarcubes once), so I welcomed this opportunity to see her in action. Again, like her opening act Salmon Roe, I was really impressed, especially with the set up that included a string section, a harpist and guys with laptops (I think, it was hard to see from where we were). I cannot believe that voice comes out of that midget. Again, the emotion of the songs was intense and the occasional pyro and firework helped punctuate some of the big moments (wonder what Ash thought of those!). The bulk of the set consiseted of very dramatic songs focusing on the strings with broken beats (am i right, Ash?) Towards then end, they broke out the dance beats and really got the crowd really hopping. I would like to have seen a more diverse set, combining the dance and the dramatic songs throughout, but honestly, it's a minor complaint. Time flew quick and now I can understand why Bjork is such a phenom (as we say in wresting). My only other complaint are the hipster morons who were at this gig. I would not be surprised if Ash killed someone, cause I was that close. Hipsters need to GO, despite my girlfriends enjoyment of making fun of them (I can't blame her).

This show honestly should have been like in Carnegie Hall or something, not a baseball field in Brooklyn. But Icelanders and Hot Dogs are a solid mix!

F

23.8.03

"Artefacto"

One thing I forgot to mention in today's post: For some time now, F.J. has been clamoring for a song on the record that embraces the vibe of Gustavo Cerati's "Artefacto." I've had a riff kicking around for some time, and while working on it today I think I found what he is looking for. More on this in the next two weeks...

I employ a flexible definition of 'minimal'

As of 5 p.m. today - Saturday - there are enough guitars on "Solar" to injure a small animal. So much for minimal.

Honestly, though, I could not help myself. The track captured my imagination right off that bat in a way that few do. It has a slow, funky shuffle - "When The Levee Breaks" meets "A Northern Soul"-era Verve - that lends itself to all kinds of psychadelic jamming. I layered echo-drenched 12-string parts, harmonized e-bows, wah-wah'ed funk lines. Had I the time or money for draw, this would be the track to which I would smoke.

I even added an extended track of theremin, which previously made an appearance on the "Theme From J-Bar."

Now poor F.J.'s job is to sort out the twentysomething tracks of instrumentation. My realistic expectation is that half of what I recorded will be wildly altered or removed altogether, but that is OK. While I enjoy jamming and layering parts on these songs, ultimately everyone on this record subscribes to a "song first" mentality. In other words, if the part does not work for the song, it goes. Plain and simple.

This working method also happens to be F.J.'s strong point as an arranger. I have never known him to discard a part that helped a song, and at this point in our long working relationship, I have the utmost trust in his discriminating ear. If something gets cut, it happens for a reason.

The process of arranging and cutting is also eased by the fact that there is little to no ego about individual parts among the members of this project. In all my time working on hypefactor, I have never known someone to piss and moan about their part being cut from a song. Well, there was that one time that all of F.J.'s bass parts were removed, and he went on a bender that ended with him capsizing his sailboat during the Fastnet race. But that's another story altogether...

Speaking of guitar parts, on Thursday night Ash played some sweet parts on a Gibson ES-330 in between bouts of programming. His playing really stands out, and he clearly has an instinctive ear for a good hook. Like me and Johnny Marr, Ash takes many of his cues from The Cure's Robert Smith, a fine guitarist who has never quite received his due as a player from the rock elite. Perhaps it was the hair?

"I should hate this song, but I really don't. It's weird!"

I had chosen not to post about last nights session as I felt Brandt captured it almost perfectly. Almost. What he states below about my "directive" to keep the new song "minimal" is in fact, 150% incorrect. If you read below, my intent with the song, and I remain quite clear on this point, is that the GUITAR playing in the song should be minimal, not the song itself. I feel the key to this song is to keep the amount of guitar tracks down to a minimum. if anything, if I had wanted to keep the song "minimal", the last person I would allow near the song is Ash. Anyway, I would like to reiterate that Ash was a freaking CHAMP last night and my "let it flow" approach to producing this track brought out the best in these two chumps. If I thought something sucked or I had a better idea, you KNOW they would have heard from me. (Of course you know, fucking Brandt has 200 guitar tracks now thinking in his underage brain that the "minimal" thing is out the door. Just wait till I arrage this sucker.)

And yes, watching Ash watch the monster Brock Lesnar beat the living hell out of the one-legged Zack Gowen was priceless.

In other news, I finally defeated the PS2 INDIANA JONES AND THE EMPEROR'S TOMB. Overall, I loved the game, though I didn't love all the supernatural shit at the end. However, that is applicable to the franchise and the makers of the game are to be commended for another great game that was totally worth the price of admission (thanks to the former high school classmate turned college roommate turned comic book expert buddy). Former high school classmate turned college roommate turned comic book expert buddy has shown me a preview of the upcoming BATMAN game, but before that, I think STARSKY AND HUTCH is going to be the next big addiction, or most certainly the new SMACKDOWN game.

The big letdown of the week comes from my hero Jackie Chan who, with THE MEDALLION has single handedly killed the "Jackie Chan Genre" by going against everything that made it great. The film is horrible and sends the asian action film back 20 years thanks to the utter disregard for EVERYTHING that makes Jackie Chan films great. Shame on you Jackie, Sammo and director Gordon Chan.

F

22.8.03

One-leg man! You know, the guy with one leg!

F.J., Ash and I had an extremely productive evening in the studio yesterday, and all four or five hours of the session were dedicated to the recently-unearthed "Solar."

If you read or recall my belated post yesterday, I was quite apprehensive about this session because of F.J.'s directive to keep the song very minimal. While I am a fan of minimal recordings, I am not a fan of recording minimally. I like records that use many layers to sound mammoth — the whole greater than the sum method of production — and also those recordings that are multi-layered but are mixed in a way that emphasizes sparseness and empty space. I knew my natural inclination to take up 13 or 14 tracks with guitars alone was going to create problems on this song.

Well "minimalism" promptly went out the window yesterday, and we have Ash to thank for it. While F.J. watched a one-legged wrestler get the crap kicked out of him on national television, I cued up the track for Ash and he pulled up his loop library. It should be noted that the man is a connoisseur of electronic sounds as well as a fastidious producer. His taste in programming - rhythm programming in particular - calls for an obscene amount of creativity on the artist's part, and his own work always exceeds these high standards.

As he plowed through loop after loop, we knew we had something good going on. The track's density grew exponentially in the next two hours, with Ash adding everything from funky rhythms to a brilliant synth line that is similar in tone to NewOrder's introduction to "Crystal." Midway through his computer-based jam session, I picked up a guitar and started jamming along to his wall of rhythms. It was like having a live drummer in the room. I quickly worked out five or six parts for the verse and chorus, and F.J., like a wise producer, sat back and let it happen. The tune really came together for me last night, and Ash's rhythmic instincts and F.J.'s hands-off production technique were the elements that allowed it to happen. All around, a brilliant evening.

I was quite elated today to find "The Distracted Lover" listed on Amazon.com. While this is far from earth-shattering, I am extremely gratified that the CD is available so easily. Both F.J. and I have some rather esoteric musical interests, and we are all too familiar with the arduous process of tracking down records by bands with little to no distribution and promotion. Now if some kid listening to college radio in Trenton hears "The Sweetest Soul," he won't need to jump through hoops to track us down. Nice work, Tinman.

Less than one week until Duran at Webster Hall. in the meantime, F.J. and I were browsing eBay for Power Station tour jackets...

21.8.03

Repeato

Brandt is a young douche who is paying $300 to see Duran Duran. That I respect. While he is quick with the wallet, he is slow with the posting

F

Addendum to my last post...

As you will probably note, F.J. beat me on my last post by about 10 minutes. Hence, I now look foolish for bragging about the fact that he hadn't posted yet. Again, shit.

And yes, wouldn't you pay $300 to see this?

Sing me a song, Mr. Piano Man...

For weeks, if not the entirety of the hypefactor sessions thus far, F.J. repeatedly insisted that he recorded a moody piano part for a song dubbed "Exist," one of four or so that are quite well-developed at this point. The issue came up every time we listened to monitor mixes in the studio, and F. never hesitated to make a snide comment about my having deleted this brilliant part from the song, thereby ruining the entire album.

And for as many weeks, I insisted this was a load of bollocks. "Exist" emerged from a demo of a song I attempted with another band about seven years ago that I modified drastically in August 2000. I have a lot of pride invested in the track, and I knew there was no way I would have lost a part for this song were it as amazing as F.J. recalled.

Well, I was wrong. But only about 40 percent wrong.

While sorting through files on the computer before my trip to Chicago last week, I came across a Cubase file called "Stay" that I thought was nothing more than a drum loop I programmed last summer. Again, I was only partially wrong. It was indeed a galloping drum loop I wrote the summer before, inspired by the vintage techno of the NewOrder-Chemical Brothers collaboration "Here To Stay." But I had forgotten about the fact that, during our first or second session of the summer, F.J. and I slowed it down to about 90 b.p.m. He added bass... and piano.

Shit.

To say F.J. was pleased would be a slight understatement. He is right - the riff was pretty good, and we built on it last night by adding some synth parts and guitars. I was told that Pink Floyd was my inspiration, and we also worked out a chorus riff that hugged the minor key piano and bass parts nicely.

I know already that the track will be a struggle to complete. My natural instinct as a guitarist and producer is to take a Phil Spector "Wall Of Sound" approach to recording, and I will have to resist the impulse to layer guitar upon guitar and effect upon effect with this track.

I am sure that F.J. would rather he told this story first, but I beat him to the punch. But the way I see it, he has me to thank for the fact that we found the song in the first place. Of course, I am also the one who "lost" the track all those weeks ago. But normally he would have been up at 8 or 9 a.m. writing this. Too much "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" the night before, perhaps?

Pick up the slack, F!

The Pianist

Dropped into the studio last night. Had no agenda really, I thought originally we were going to have Robin and Ash in there, but both bailed.

Speaking of Ash, he handed in a rough draft of THEME FROM PROPAGANDA and I am quite happy with the results. I think it’s off to a really solid start and has achieved what I was hoping to have on this album, a good house track to serve as the centerpiece. Besides some minor mix notes as well as a few structure ideas, this track is well on its way. It was a perfect first track to listen to in my new Ipod (THANKS IRENE!)

Anyhow, got to the studio and Brandt unearthed a track we started last month in the initial sessions and then somehow was forgotten. It consisted of a drum loop, enough basslines for a verse and a chorus and my long lost piano that I thought I had done in the song EXIST. I had been ranting and raving for the first month of this album that I had done piano somewhere and it was lost. Needless to say, it was nice to be justified that I am not crazy and we now have our eighth song for HF2. We re-recorded some of the bass that I wasn’t 100% on and then I threw down some sci-fi strings that Ash will hate. Brandt played some sweet guitars, and I tried to steer him toward a “less is more” approach to this song. the results were akin to David Gilmour meeting Richard Ashcroft. Atmosphere is the name of the game for this tune, which now has the working title of SOLAR.

We’re back in the studio tonight, hopefully joined by ash and possibly Young Oscar Hess aka The Kidd. He’ll be the first person outside of the core four to hear the work in progress. As evidenced by his work on FLOOD and THE DISTRACTED LOVER, the Kidd is the person you want to have come in and give you a fresh perspective on the material. Besides being my alleged younger sibiling, he is the only man I know besides me who has seen Marisa Tomei’s boobs in person. It’s a unique bond to share. I hope he makes it.

Had a long catch up session with original MOG member and former aggressioner Chris Link, who is impressed I have several of his F-11 songs in my Ipod. Link is a talented musician who I learned tons from in my formative years. Also, he got me into stuff like John Cale, Lou Reed and other cool stuff when we were young at NYU and I am forever in his debt (though I got him into Nick Cave!). I have invited Link to get in on HF2 while we are still writing. I’ll see him in Chicago next week and we will discuss further.

Further to an entry below, after tons of Duran Duran fans crashed the ticketmaster server during the internet pre-sale, I got crazy lucky and was able to purchase tickets to see the Durans at Webster Hall on my birthday next week. Normally I would brag about this and poke fun at my comrades who didn’t get tickets, but I got VERY VERY lucky and without Matt Gentile telling me the tickets were back up, I’d be watching THE MEDALLION on my 31st birthday. VERY VERY VERY lucky. Fate maybe.

F

18.8.03

Bi Bye Bye

Post blackout, Danny Boy, S.O. and I braved the hipster nightmare that is Piano’s to check out the glam man known as Saphin. First a little back story: A few years ago, while killing time at Luna Lounge, Danny Boy, Tom (excuse me, THOMAS), and I stumbled across a band playing what sounded like the soundtrack to VELVET GOLDMINE (The best soundtrack for the worst movie). Intrigued, we watched their entire set. The singer, who is Saphin (nee Jeff Saphin or JEFF) had the best elements of Ziggy-Era Bowie (including costume changes and a dressing room “tent”) and the band itself was INCREDIBLE. They had a guitar player who out-Bauhuas-ed Daniel Ash, a drummer who looked like he belonged in 25 Ta Life and a bassist who could best be described as an Israeli New Romantic. And this worked!!! And of course, they looked fantastic, so totally different, yet it all fit. This was one of those special bands in which you knew that if one element was different, it would flat-out suck. Together, these guys rivaled any major label band out there. Glam is a delicate beast to do properly and these guys tamed it and in my humble opinion, modernized it. Danny Boy was even E-mailing Saphin to make sure they would play their now classic I’M NOT GAY. Let me tell you, you have to be an amazing band to get someone like Ash to listen to songs like SEX IN THE NAME OF GOD and DAYGLO HALO. Nuff Said. They, like Saintface, became the band to see, and we were all huge fans.

And then, at one gig, JEFF announced “he” was going away to record an album and would be taking some time off. We were sad, but we couldn’t fault him (hopefully them) for wanting to make a record, at least now we could have the songs on CD! Plus, you could always surf their site, where you can learn all about JEFF, but really none of the other guys, which was annoying. Brandt ran into the guitarist, Evan Evangilista, one day in a train station and he ran away when approached. Then Evan started showing up in a band called Essex. Not a good sign…

Well, who knows what happened in between, because they did the record, and it was mediocre (and a total rip off, ask Matt Gentile, who, like me paid something like 30 bucks for a cd-r of this album). I don’t know if JEFF fired the rhythm section of they walked or what have you, its not my place to speculate as I don’t know the circumstances, but the record reflected none of that wonderful band we followed around for a year or so. Like Saintface, the frontman is the main driving force, but unlike Saintface, the band was made the frontman a star. No offense to my friends in Saintface, but the Saphin band had a unique chemistry straight off the bat that was tight and fierce. The songs were GOOD, but GREAT when that band played them. Saintface luckily has great songs (and not enough on CD, PETER!).

Then JEFF started playing again, but acoustically, which I didn’t go see as I am loyal to that band, then new band members started appearing on the website, and I wrote them off immediately. Then the decision was made to check out the all-new live band JEFF had assembled on Saturday night…It started off promisingly enough, as Saphin, in orange jumpsuit, went into the crowd offering people chips. And then the band played…

Well, S.O. didn’t make it through the first few songs, and quite Frankly, I couldn’t blame her. JEFF has a really good keyboard player (who actually adds to the material), a really decent guitarist, and a solid drummer, but that’s the problem. They’re all individually solid, but they are NOT Saphin. And to add insult to injury, Evan Evangelista was playing BASS. What the hell is that? It’s like Mick Ronson playing bass for Bowie. You don’t want the great guitar player who defined these songs playing BASS!!! UGH. The new guitar player lacks the style and substance of Evan. He is a power chord guy, and he can rock out, but the point is, Saphin is not power chord rock. I want Evan, not some guy who looks like Matthew Lillard. The problem is, these guys are good, REALLY good, but they have to compare to the previous incarnation, which was magic. Maybe they will develop in time…though probably into something different, and not something I would find interesting.

And what can I say about JEFF. He was once a glammed up androgynous alien half-breed that exuded irony like none other. Now he just seems pissed and looks like he wants to be in Interpol. The sexy innuendo is replaced by angst and it doesn’t suit those songs at all. He did show some signs of life during I'M NOT GAY, but it was too brief. Honestly, he appears to be an egomaniac, and I hope he didn’t piss off the other band members or did something stupid like fire them cause then I would be REALLY pissed at JEFF.

The costume changes are there but the fun is gone. Are Essex any good?

F

15.8.03

Blackout! Burnout!

En route back to NY finally. Because this LA trip was so hastily put together, I flew out of Long Beach, which is a timewarp to the old tiny airports of the past. Think CATCH ME IF YOU CAN with high tech security and you get what I’m saying. Even had to walk out to the tarmac to get on the plane. LOVE that (see previous Iceland/UK 2001 photos). Flying Jet Blue for the first time. It’s quite humourous. They have Direct TV on the flight, with about 15 channels. Of course one of them has to be VH1 Classics and I am immediately drawn to the Power Station’s SOME LIKE IT HOT. Speaking of which…

I’m obviously doing something right as the Durans have decided to play a club show at Webster Hall, which is 7 blocks away from us. And when are they playing? August 27th, my birthday. Now all I need are tickets.

Agent/Lawyer/Advisor and I went to check out 16 Volt the other night in LA. Well, we tried to. Because she was late to dinner, thus making me and former aggression vocalist turned important screenwriter wait forever to eat, we showed up at the venue at about 9:45. Eric Volt was kind of enough to guest list me, and his website and the ticketmaster site said “9pm” on it, so we expected to sit through some opening acts. At the door, the start times were listed and it read “16Volt 9:00-9:35” (or something like that). Um, WHAT? Who the hell actually performs on time on this planet and who makes tickets to a show available via ticketmaster for a band that is only going to play for 35 minutes? I can only assume this was a label showcase thing. So, sadly, no Volt. We then saw SWAT, which blows immensely. This was one of those days where you just couldn’t win. Two words: Los Angeles.

Some things l learned from the VH1 classics today. The 80’s BLOW and Madonna was a crap dancer. But Debbie Harry was AMAZING.

Ash has yet to deliver the mix of THEME FROM PROPAGANDA because of a pet related problem in his apartment. I am scared to ask for futher details, but the word “fleas” was used during a phone message. I spent a lot of time listening to the other current demos and remain quite happy.

I’m too tired and frazzled to think about anything other than being home, having a nice meal with the lovely S.O. and getting back into the PS2 Indiana Jones. I’ve missed some wrestling too. (it’s a shame that 20 minutes after I typed this, the power went out in the northeast, WHILE I was in the air…that’s a whole other story for another time)


F

9.8.03

ANGEL ECLIPSIA

Saw Year of the Rabbit again with S.O. the other night at Mercury Lounge. We stood right at the front and just smiled the whole time. Put simply: they're GREAT and play excellent rock and roll. It was fun seeing them after having heard the whole album. They opened their set with a cover of The Cure's "PLAIN SONG". That right there earns my respect. Afterwards, it was a quick stop at the Pub to catch up with Pater and then an Indian meal with my agent/lawyer/advisor/houseguest. Yes, I ate Indian food. S.O. is trying to make me more diverse. It's working...

Well the long awaited package arrived from Cracknation containing the next two Cracknation releases: Acumen Nation's "LORD OF THE CYNICS" and a final yet unmastered version of the (extremely) long awaited and anticipated Chemlab album "OXIDIZER", which as you may have read, I worked on a bit ;-)

Here are my brief thoughts:

"CYNICS" is the best written and produced Acumen record to date. The whole key to this album is Jason wisely making the most out of his new rythmn section, Dan and Eliot, and writing with them as a band. Their welcomed presence is very obvious in the material and the album is more akin to the live Acumen experience than any previous album. Also, Jason is finally singing more (something I had been nudging him to do for some time) and his grasp of melody is fantastic. the songs are catchier than the last album and the last song, CAPSULE, is a fantastic and soulful tune. Production is Cracknation standard, meaning its aces. I look forward to getting further into the album.

"OXIDIZER" is tougher to review because of my closeness to it. I co-wrote some of it, did a lot of sounds for it, and have been extremely passionate and vocal about this record for a long time. i can't review it. I am in love with 90% of the album and the other 10% I like but that mostly has to do with certain choices that were made for the album that I don't agree with, but thats real nitpicky stuff (i.e. "oh i would turn the guitar up here" etc) and thats what happens in a band. 90% is a super figure. My curiosity about public reaction to the album is quite strong. I'm sure some fans will love it and others will not, and probably for the wrong reasons. They have to accept that this is 2003 and not 1995. This album is a full success and the hidden track on OXIDIZER will make the old schoolers happy!

Meanwhile...

Last night, S.O. and I saw the film SWIMMING POOL, which was quite good. I feel a certain member of the aggression, known for his love of the part of the female anatomy called the BOOBS, would like this movie, as it has a young woman running around without a top on quite a bit. Anyhow, I'm glad we saw this instead of SWAT.

Ash is in Boston visiting relatives, but informs Brandt that he will have an mp3 arrangement of "THEME FROM PROPAGANDA" for us late tonight or tomorrow. Brandt intends to have some rough versions of the other songs for me on MP3 before I head back to LA tomorrow night. Hopefully this will happen and I will have a lot to study on the plane. What a great solo album? I'm home packing for LA and playing the new INDIANA JONES video game on mp3 while everyone else works on the songs. HAH! winner.

Seeing Saintface tonight...more later maybe.

F

7.8.03

PROPAGANDA

I spent the bulk of Tuesday knocking another song into shape. I did some weird stuff with it, and basically what has come out of it is that we now have what we think is the album opener...

Last night, B, Ash and I gathered, mostly so Ash could hear the current arrangements and we could toss around idea for the next batch of tunes. Ash likes the arrangements, and everyone's comments are more "the song needs..." and less "I hate this" (In fact that never comes up). Concepts, thoughts, etc. are thrown back and forth. Ash is going to take the more acoustic oriented stuff and really mess around with them a bit. I created some atmospheric stuff for "THEY'VE JUST..." and he will clean that up and build from there. I am confident in what he will come up with.

From the discussions recently, it has been my intention to do a song that was more dance oriented. I'm not saying techno, but something that was more loop based, more groovy, etc. Cerati has an uncanny ability to make great dance music that doesn't seem out of place on a rock album and this is really inspiring, especially since my roots in music are electronic. When in Russia, the MOGpac spent an evening in a house club called Propaganda, which was very inspirational for Ash and got me more interested in trying music of that type (and now infamous as being the place where Danny Boy Hamill lost his coat check ticket, thus keeping us in the club till they closed one night). Anyway, I think doing something like this has been in the back of my head as well as Ash's for some time now.

So the three of us formulate a plan that would involve Ash bringing lots of his gear into the studio and we would sort of "jam" a song out electronically. However, this is put on hold when Ash plays a series of loops out of his laptop that B and I go mental for. Immediately we pick up guitar and bass and start to jam along. And what do you know, a few hours later we have tons of parts for a new song. Instead of using the studio computer that runs Cubase, we recorded straight from the mixer into Ash's laptop, where he is running the program LIVE, which he swears by and is excellent for this kind of music.

This song is now called "THEME FROM PROPAGANDA" and will probably end up as the centerpiece of the album. It's the 7th song written thus far and we were lucky that the stars were aligned last night and we wrote a VERY cool song. Ash is going to arrange it as he would one of his club tracks and I have a vague idea for a vocal melody that might work in an Underworld/"THESE MILLION NIGHTS" kind of way.

We left the studio quite jazzed. Ash also has come up with a GREAT idea for a guest vocal spot. I'll be getting on that invite right away.

Tomorrow, I should be writing about the final Chemlab mixes and the new Acumen album should they actually arrive (JASON!)

F

5.8.03

CLEANED UP

Taking the streak even further, I cruised into the studio on Sunday to check on progress there. I played my new arrangements and received an enthusiastic thumbs up for the first four songs. B then played me some new guitar parts for a rocker called "Clean Up" (this is NOT the final title, I'm just sick of typing "the one where I play bass here and he plays guitar here", know what I mean?). I was dead into these guitars and demanded I'd be given the parts immediately to go arrange this tune. B complied and when trasnferring the songs from laptop to laptop, my powerbook takes ANOTHER DIVE!!!!!

Angry beyond belief, I dropped everything and ran to Apple. Got soaked in the rain as well. So I get to Apple and lo and behold all I did was hit one wrong button and everything was fine. But man was I pissed. But man was I happy to learn nothing was messed up and I was able to go spend a nice evening with S.O. and the nice people who raised me.

We have the agent/lawyer/advisor staying with us, but while she is off doing legal things and S.O. is working, I was able to arrange "Clean Up" and E it over to the studio, where B sang its praises. He would tell me if it was crap, so I am quite pleased.

Note that Hypefactor.com is now running with news and the "Making Of The Distracted Lover". Worthy reads. Pictures soon I think. I gotta get this beard on film, you know.

Ash and I talk via IM yesterday. He was messaging me from an airport in Florida, where he was able to wirelessly connect. How I don't know, cause i don't think it was via his cel phone. I am kinda scared of how he did that, yet I am impressed and ponder all the time I could save at LAX and Newark with that ability. Ash is into the HF2 material and we plot some new ideas based on things I have discussed previously with him and B. MP3's are exchanged for inspiration and reference. I am still scared of his ability to connect to the net in the airport...

I will try to maybe get to one more song today, if I feel it, and we might gather The HF Corp. this week to review what we have at this point and maybe work on new stuff.

Chemlab is being mastered this week by Dave Suycott of Machines of Loving Grace and Stabbing Westward. He's got some good ears on him, so I am confident the final product will sound massive. The label has the artwork and hopefully this will be in production quite soon. I can't wait to hear the final mixes! I'm sure you can't either...it's worth the wait!

F

3.8.03

"So, wait, Hypefactor is ONE word?"

During my recent West Coast jaunt, I couldn't get focused on the HF2 material, mostly because the Chemlab mixes were rolling in and it was hard to switch gears. I've written music long enough to know not to force myself into doing anything or it's just gonna suck... I usually have to wait for the songs to call out to me...

Well, today I got that call and finally got my ass in gear. I started at 8am with the intention of doing the Audio Warfare remix, but the next time I looked, it was 3pm and I had arranged four HF2 songs. I'm REALLY happy with what I've put together. The bulk of the time was spent filtering through what's been played and picking out the best takes to use. Luckily, the talented people who have been playing on this record have given me a lot to choose from and work with.

I then went out for a stroll that ended up being several hours. I had to force myself to get something to eat, find out what's going on in the world, and listen to new CD purchases without distraction. Some of my time was spent with Peter Saintface, who I always have time for. We caught up on all things HF and SF. They are far along with the recording of their new EP, however, after their gig this coming weekend, Peter is off for 2 weeks in Paris. Poor guy ;-) Of course, the lightbulb went off in my head to steal some of his bandmates to come write with us while he is away. He likes that idea. When he returns, he's going to come into the studio to hear what we have.

I went back home and went at it a few more hours, mostly polishing what I had done today and starting the arragement for one more song. Unlike the old days, this would normally be declared as the final arrangements, but this stage is more for us to figure out what else is needed in each song and what we have to do to flesh everything out. It's a true work in progress. Also, I'm taking into account that live drums are going to go over these songs as well. Thank God I have an amazing drummer...

I might go into the studio to hear what Brandt has done with some of the guitars and to give him a feel for what progress I have made here at MOGworld. There's no deadline yet, so we can really take our time and do it right. This evening I finally explained to the label that Hypefactor is ONE word, not two. What a productive day!

Oh and I cooked too!

F

2.8.03

BE-MUSIC?

After seeing a really good film called DIRTY PRETTY THINGS, starring Audrey "My eyes are bigger than your head" Tataou, the S.O. and popped into Kim's (her fave record store) for some late night CD shopping. Usually Kim's is a bit hipster for my taste, but last time we were there I found a flyer for the Cerati gig, so I thought maybe lightning would strike twice and I would discover something interesting. And sure enough i did, and I picked this up, which they had just gotten in:

"BE-MUSIC: COOL AS ICE: LTM are proud to present a compilation of stone classic old school 80's electro and dance cuts produced by Be Music, the tag used by all four members of New Order. The tracks were largely produced between 1983 and 1984 for release on Factory Records and Factory Benelux. Some tracks marked were co-produced by Be Music (Bernard Sumner) and DoJo (Donald Johnson, of A Certain Ratio). Nyam Nyam and the Be Music Theme were produced by Peter Hook, and Life and Thick Pigeon by Steve Morris and Gillian Gilbert. Several of the tracks, including Love Tempo, Looking From A Hilltop and Cool As Ice remain influential club classics, and have been extensively sampled and bootlegged. Several years before the great house explosion, with their own Hacienda club still empty every single night, yet way (too far?) ahead of their time, four guys and a girl from Manchester produced a whole bunch of pure sonic magic which made waves worldwide. The album has been digitally remastered and runs for 74 minutes. The set will be available both on CD and as a limited DJ friendly double vinyl set. The vinyl version will be limited to just 1000"

Well I'd be lying if I told I had ANY clue as to what the hell this was so I snagged it and am listening to it now. It sounds a bit dated, but is quite good and it all comes across as a testing ground for New Order's music around this time. There are tons of sounds and programming nuances that later appear in some of New Order's classic material from this period. It's all very electro, very 80's club friendly and very very influential. It's a fascinating document of a lost yet important period of a legendary band's career. Plus there is a cool tune at the end that Peter Hook did. Also, according to the liner notes, Johhny Marr makes an uncredited cameo on one the Sumner-produced songs, hence the early stages of Electronic!

However, this is for hardcore New Order fans or 80's club kids only. So keep that in mind...

Meanwhile, work continues on the HF website. The news section should be going up soon and we've written a very extensive "Making of THE DISTRACTED LOVER", similar to my "Making of FLOOD" over at the aggression site. I had to admit to slacking on the tunes a bit, but fear not, I'm getting back into the swing of things. Also, I have to start work on the Audio Warfare remix, and I'm happy to say, unlike most songs I remix, I quite like this tune and there is a lot of fun material in it to mess around with.

Jared is probably just back in London as I type. I don't know the results of the final day, but everything seemed to be going well. I think the artwork went into Caroline yesterday and the music has to be in on Monday. I'm going to try and call over to Cracknation this weekend for an update.

Ok, time for tea and remixing...

F